Geriatric social workers: Leading the change required to make the public healthy

Over the next decade, training new professionals to provide leadership in aging services is imperative as the number of older Americans is predicted to double by 2030. Understanding which factors influence leadership development among emerging professionals to supply this demand is essential to create learning environments where skill and expertise can develop to ensure a strong healthcare workforce for the future. In geriatrics where public health and social service infrastructures must intersect to meet challenges of an aging society, leadership development is especially important. In meeting public health's mission to fulfill society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy, core competencies – including a leadership domain – have been developed for master-level training. Master-level social work programs, however, may be doing more by establishing explicit practice standards for leadership competence specifically in aging. The New York Academy of Medicine's Social Work Leadership Institute (SWLI) has developed competencies in the practice environment of aging which fosters the concept of leadership early among graduates and provides professional opportunities and linkages. Social workers are practice leaders who should be trained and called upon to direct and advance efforts to link health and social services and promote aging services. This presentation will discuss the establishment and implementation of leadership competencies in social work education; share students' perceptions and experiences of their leadership development and the creation of a national leadership network of graduates; and discuss the potential benefits and limitations of adopting leadership competencies in aging for public health education.